Freshmen quick to play cash game

It’s the oldest political survival tactic in the book, and many of the House freshmen are already getting the knack of it: quickly refilling campaign coffers with cash from Washington special interests vilified on the campaign trail — this time by the tea party activists who helped elect many of them.

Since Election Day, first-term members of Congress have held more than 40 events on K Street, Capitol Hill and around town to schmooze and raise money from lobbyists, political action committees and other representatives of Washington interest groups eager to establish relationships with the new class.

Story Continued Below

The events have taken place over breakfasts, lunches, dinners and cocktails, inside lobbying firm boardrooms, at fancy hotels and even in a luxury skybox at FedEx Field during the Philadelphia Eagles’ routing of the Washington Redskins, according to data collected by the nonpartisan transparency group The Sunlight Foundation.

The result: In just the first three weeks after Election Day — traditionally a slow time in the fundraising world — PACs contributed more than $444,000 to dozens of the 96 incoming members of Congress, according to Federal Election Commission filings analyzed by POLITICO.

Freshmen “don’t really have time to wait” before ramping up their fundraising operations, said Dave Gilliard, a top California Republican consultant whose firm worked on 10 Golden State congressional campaigns last cycle.

“The first reelection for any freshman is always the biggest challenge, and that’s even more so under new district lines,” he said, referring to the pending once-a-decade redrawing of congressional district boundaries, which could substantially alter voter bases. “It is important to have money in the bank by the end of your first off election year,” Gilliard said.

Former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, who served a term as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is dedicated to reelecting members, said lawmakers should expect to occassionally take some flak for fundraising in Washington, but that shouldn’t deter them.

“Assuming the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed,” most fundraising scrutiny “will soon be forgotten and be at the bottom of the birdcage, but the money will remain as a benefit,” Davis said.

One freshman who has shown no reservations is Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.). He’s among the few freshmen to have established a leadership political action committee, an account separate from his campaign war chest, that is used to dole out donations to other candidates and committees.

According to FEC filings, other rookies with leadership PACs are Reps. Jeff Landry (R-La.) and Karen Bass (D-Calif.), and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), the last a former House member.

More common fundraising vehicles for freshmen are so-called joint fundraising committees. Denham recruited at least 11 other Republican freshmen to join one called America’s New Majority, which held a major fundraiser last week at Washington’s swank W Hotel with a performance by country music star LeAnn Rimes.

Veteran members with deep ties to the PAC community have helped freshmen replenish their coffers through lower-profile joint fundraising committee events, as well. It’s often not a hard sell. Special interest groups tend to give to incumbents. After the midterm shake-up, many are anxious to use their PAC cash to curry favor with the congressional newcomers.

Illinois House Republican Freshmen — a joint committee benefiting that state’s freshman GOP class of Reps. Robert Dold, Adam Kinzinger, Randy Hultgren, Bobby Schilling and Joe Walsh — last month held two big-donor events at the Capitol Hill Club, across the street from the House office buildings. The gatherings were hosted by five of their senior colleagues in the delegation. At one such event, ticket prices ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 for a “platinum” sponsorship.

The Ohio Five — a joint fundraising committee established to benefit the Buckeye State’s newly elected Republicans, Reps. Steve Chabot, Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson, Jim Renacci and Steve Stivers — held an event in Washington at the prompting of the state’s veteran House members, all of whom helped to headline the event.